WEBZEN ATTENDS GAME DEMONSTRATION EVENT SPONSORED BY THE BRITISH COUNCIL
- Partnership of Korean and UK Game Developers Promoted
- APB Slated for Simultaneous Release in Korea and UK in 2007
November 17, 2005 (SEOUL, Korea) – Webzen, Inc. (www.webzen.com), as Korea’s representative game developer, today attended a game demonstration event sponsored by the British Council. Webzen, Inc. introduced guests to some of its games in development and gave a presentation on the current state of Korea’s game industry.
Today’s event was made possible through the invitation from Prince Andrew, in his role as an ambassador for securing investment in the United Kingdom, and the British Council. Webzen, Inc. was recently awarded the worldwide publishing rights for the online game APB from a British developer. The company also finances and develops its own games. Also invited to the event was NC Soft, a game developer strong in the global market with high-quality games.
“The United Kingdom is the largest market for games in all of Europe,” said Nam Ju Kim, chief executive office of Webzen, Inc. “We’re seriously examining the possibility of establishing a subsidiary in Europe, and I’m expecting that with this visit by Prince Andrew, there will be an even more active exchange between the two countries.”
Along with introducing the company, Webzen, Inc. showcased movie clips from Soul of the Ultimate Nation, soon slated for open beta testing, as well as Wiki, currently in development, and APB (All Points Bulletin). During the event, Prince Andrew showed avid interest in the realistic visual graphics from Soul of the Ultimate Nation. He commented to another guest that he was impressed with the technical expertise of the Korean online games.
The Hybrid MMO Action game APB is targeted for European and North American markets, and is the first online game by David Jones, the creator of GTA (Grand Theft Auto) that took the game world by storm. APB is currently being developed in United Kingdom in PC online and XBox360 versions and is slated for simultaneous launching in Korea and United Kingdom in 2007.
Founded in 2000 and based in Seoul, Korea, Webzen has become a leader in the MMOG market and has developed some of the world’s top online game and client/server technologies. In January of this year, Webzen announced its entry into the U.S. games market with a new subsidiary, Webzen America, based in Los Angeles.
